Obtaining Student Loans in Nigeria

ADDENDUM: The Global Student Loan® from the Global Student Loan Corporation

(14/04/2012) - Following the post few days ago about 'The Global Student Loan®' (please see post below), I have been inundated with emails and questions from interested prospective students, especially Nigerians, seeking to ascertain the validity/reality or otherwise of this company's loan program. Since it is not feasible to answer each person separately, I decided to write the company and also add this addendum to my previous post.

I want to firmly declare that 'Study & Scholarships' neither has any existing relationship with nor currently endorses this company in anyway. As noted in the previous post, "...I stumbled upon" the company's website while browsing the Internet for a completely different reason. After spending days going through the site, I reasoned it was genuine enough to share information on this 'find'.

Below, for your perusal, is a copy of the company's response to my email:

Dear Tony,

Thank you for taking the time to email me.

Global Student Loan Corporation facilitates loans for non-U.S. citizens international students who would like to study at a United States college or university. GSLC is currently able to serve students who are permanent residents of specific countries and is working with a select group of U.S. schools at this time. A co-signer is required from the borrower's country of permanent residence.

At the moment we only have a bank partnership with HSBC in India, therefore students from Nigeria cannot apply for the loan unfortunately. I would tell them to register (free of charge) so that in the event that a partnership with a Nigerian bank occurs they can be contacted when we expand our program.

Thank you again for your interest.

Sincerely,
Emily Peralta
Global Student Loan Corporation
www.Globalslc.com

As a personal advise, I encourage all interested students to visit the site themselves via the links provided in the post (see below), and assess things for themselves. I also advise that you register and make a loan application with them.
HOWEVER, I strongly advise that you abandon all interactions with the company IF any financial or monetary-related demand is requested from you at any stage. 'Study & Scholarships' will bear neither liability nor responsibility IF you disregard this advise and go ahead to either pay out money or supply money-related information (eg ATM number) and are eventually duped.

Whatever your experience, especially if money is demanded, please do not hesitate to comment below, or inform us so we can share it here. We wish you great luck in your search for educational funding.

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The Global Student Loan® from the Global Student Loan Corporation

(08/04/2012) - The Global Student Loan Corporation, as the name implies, is a company I stumbled upon recently that aims to "...help put the world through school".

The company's mission statement reads: Our commitment to you stems from our belief that an education is the best investment an individual and a society can make. The Global Student Loan® offers students who are non-U.S. citizens from around the globe the opportunity to attain a world-class education. By facilitating loans for international students who are non-U.S. citizens, Global Student Loan Corporation helps put the world through school.

At this time when the Federal Government of Nigeria does not have any policy on student loans in place to cater for the educational needs of its teeming citizens, I reckoned that this discovery will be priceless to the average student, Nigerian and non-Nigerian alike, who would require a loan to study abroad.

In addition to covering your tuition, the Global Student Loan provides funding for other education-related expenses such as fees, computers, communications, travel, and housing.

At this time, students 18 and over are allowed to apply. Loans are for non-U.S. citizens who wish to study at U.S. colleges and universities. If you are studying at an online school which has headquarters in the U.S., such as the University of Phoenix, you may also obtain this loan to study from outside of the U.S.

For more resource, see the company's Frequently Asked Questions.
To register for / initiate a loan application, see Loan Registration page.

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Senate passes Tertiary Education Fund Bill

(18/05/2011) - The Senate, yesterday, repealed the Education Trust Fund Act and enacted a more focused replacement, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund that will fund only federal government-owned tertiary institutions. The bill empowers the fund to set aside 10 percent of its annual tax accruals for loans and scholarships to Nigerian students in tertiary educational institutions.

The new fund has a narrower focus. It will fund only tertiary educational institutions owed by the federal government by way of funding researches, equipping libraries and laboratories, and award of scholarships. Private universities shall, however, have access to facilities created for research and publications.

The new fund will be responsible for collecting the tertiary education tax, two percent of profit companies registered in Nigeria. The operational cost of the funds will, however, be sourced from the Consolidated Revenue funds after due budgetary allocations.

The bill was originated by the presidency and has long passed second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives.

It will be run by an eight member board, which shall monitor and ensure the collection of education tax by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, manage and disburse it – in accordance with the law. The board shall distribute its funds in the ratio of 2:1:1 between the universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

The board shall, before disbursement of funds in each year, set aside 10 percent of its total tax accruals in the preceding year for federal scholarship and loan schemes for Nigerian students in tertiary education institutions.

Companies and individuals who fail to remit the taxes commit an offence under the act that is punishable with six months jail term or N1 million fine or both – for first offenders – and 12 months jail term with N2 million fine for second time offenders.

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News Article: Obtaining Student Loans in Nigeria

(09/09/2008) - The Federal Government maintains a policy of no tuition fees in federal universities while at the same time allowing students enrolled in state universities to pay tuition fees in addition to room and board.

The Nigerian Student Loan Board was first established in 1972. Between 1972 and 1991, it provided loans totaling NGN 46 million (US$ 3.8 million) to help students finance undergraduate or graduate studies within Nigeria and abroad (Chuta, 1992: 443)¹. By 1992, the Board had made loan awards of over N 46 million and faced the problem of recovering outstanding loans over NGN 40 million (US$ 3.34 million) leading to its suspension (Chuta, 1992: 445; Ajayi & Alani 1996:4)^{1, 2}.

The Nigerian Student Loan Board was replaced by the Nigerian Education Bank under Decree #50 of 1993. The main and specific functions of the Nigerian Education Bank were: student lending, lending for publishing, equipment leasing, project financing, funds mobilization and provision of advisory services for educational purposes (Chuta, ibid. 423)³. Loans to undergraduates are designed to place a likely debt burden on students ranging from NGN 24,000-NGN 32,000 (US$ 201-268) for four years in 1998. Within this range, student loans are assumed to vary according to the type of course taken, duration, level (e.g. professional, or non-professional), degree or non-degree. Loans are structured to meet the higher costs of students in professional fields such as medicine, law, accountancy, architecture, quantity surveying etc.

Other functions of the Bank are to mobilize educational savings from parents and teachers by advising parents to take out educational insurance policies and initiate savings schemes for their children. The Bank also provides advisory services and undertakes scientific research on economics and financing of education; analyzes recurrent and capital costs of education, undertakes cost-benefit analysis of educational investments; and advises on manpower development issues.

For more information, write or call:
Nigeria Education Bank (NEB)
P.M.B. 11, Garki, Abuja.
Phone: +234 9 5321059, 5321704

Reference(s):

1. Chuta, E.J. (Jun., 1992). Student loans in Nigeria. Higher Education Vol. 23, No. 4; pp. 443-449. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3447358.
2. Ajayi, T., & Alani, R.A. (1996). A study on cost recovery in Nigerian university education: Issues of quality, access and equity. Final Report. Accra: Association of African Universities (AAU).
3. Chuta, E.J. (1998). New dimensions in educational financing: the Nigerian Education Bank. Higher Education 35, 423-433.